Improvement in street-car awnings



F. P. McINT-YRE. STREET-CAR AWNING.

No. 194,923, Patented Sept. 4,1877.

INVENTUB M197 WITNESSES ATTORNEYS.

PEYERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES FFIQ If r IMPROVEMENT IN STREET-CAR AWN INGS Specificationforming part of Letters Patent No. 194,9 2 3, dated September 4, 1877application filed April 20,1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, FRANK P. MOINTYRE, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and ImprovedAwning for Street-Oars; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is avertical longitudinal section of a street-car, showing theapplication of the awning. Fig. 2 is a plan view.

The object of my invention is to provide an awning forstreet-carsdesigned to extend over the horses and protect them from the excessiveand exhausting heat of summer.

The invention consists in a horizontal longitudinal supporting-rod,arranged in or upon the top of the car, and extending the whole lengthof the same and a sufficient distance in front to cover the horses,which rod is hooked at its outer end, and supports a U-shaped marginalrod, the inner arms or branches of which are detachably fastened to thecar; which devices, together with a transverse brace, hereinafterdescribed, constitute the supporting-frame of the awning.

In the drawing, A represents a street-car of the ordinary construction,to which my improved awning is shown applied. B is the longitudinalsupporting-rod, G the U-shaped marginal rod extending the canvas of theawning, and D are the brace-rods, which together constitute the frame ofthe awning.

The longitudinal supporting-rod B runs the whole length of the car, andextends in front of the same, above the horses, to a distance of abouttwo feet beyond the horses heads, having, at its forward extremity, adownward bend and a hook, a, which supports the outer end of theU-shaped rod.

This rod B, for the sake of lightness and strength, is made of gas-pipepreferably, about two inches in diameter, and it is arranged on or uponthe top of the car in bearings, so as to slide longitudinally. In carshaving roofs that will permit it, the said rod will be arranged in theroof, as shown, but in adapting the devices to certain construction ofcars having differently-arranged roofs, the rods may be arranged uponthe top of the roof in special bearings placed upon the same. TheUshaped rod 0 is madein a single continuous piece, extending as farforward as the hook of the supporting-rod, and bent in such manner as tohave suitable transverse dimensions, to fully protect one or two horses,as the case may be. This rod is made of halfinch gas-pipe, and itsbranches next to the car have hooked ends, which fit into and aresupported by staples or eyes b, firmly fastened to the front end of thecar, near the roof. In the eyes or staples behind each hook a rubbercushion is placed, which prevents the hooks from becoming accidentallydetached by the wind or jar of the car, and which also prevents theadditional rattle and noise which the attachment might involve.

To prevent the front end of the U-shaped rod 0 from swaying or swinging,and to hold it firmly in its place in the hook a. without dislodgment,the braces D are used. These braces consist of short sections ofgas-pipe, which are secured in a T-coupling on the sides of the bentU-shaped rod 0, and in a coupling upon the supporting-rod B. Over theframe, as thus described, the canvas is placed, and secured by suitablemeans.

When the awning is not required to be used, the short sections of thebraces D are taken out, the bent front end of the rod 0 is lifted fromthe hook of the supporting-rod, the inner terminal hooks of the said rod0 are removed from their eyes upon the car, and the supporting-rod B isthen slid back in its bearings, either into or upon the car, as the casemay be.

When the devices are to be applied to cars that reverse, or run in bothdirections, eyes b are arranged upon both ends of the car, and the rodsB and O are removed and applied to the opposite end, when desired, theirdetachable character being such as to readily permit this change inadjustment.

Instead of fastening the ends of the U- shaped rod by hooks and eyes, asdescribed, I may, as a modification of my invention, dispense with thesame, and extend the branches of the bent rod through hearings in thecar,

as shown in dotted lines, and in that case the bent rod 0, instead ofbeing taken out, is sim ply slid into the car together with the rod B.

The device which has thus been described as applying to a street-car,may also, in some cases, be employed to advantage in connection withwagons or other vehicles drawn by horses.

In defining more clearly my invention I would state that 1 am aware thatbent U shaped rods, corresponding to my rod 0, have been applied to astreet-car, with a view to sustaining an awning. but they were notbraced in vertical directions, as in my invention, by means of the rod Band braces D, and hence they possessed little or no strength .orstiffness to resist the flapping of the awning occasioned by the jolt ofthe car or the passage of the wind. The main rod B and braces Dconstitute, therefore, the essentially novel features of ,my invention,and I therefore limit my invention to the same when combined with thebent marginal rod, as shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. Thecombination, in a street-oar,-of the sliding supporting-rod B, extendingfrom end to end of the car, and above the horses, with the U-shaped rod0, detachably fastened to the car at its inner ends, and supported atits outer end by the rod B, substantially as described. V

2. The combination, with the street-car, of the sliding rod B, theU-shaped rod 0, and the braces D, substantially as described, and forthe purpose set forth.

1?. P. MOJINTYRE. Witnesses:

' EDW. W. BYRN,

SoLoN O. KEMON.

